When The World Ends
by Miyopiyo
Summary: After some time spent alone, Inuyasha promises Kagome to inform Kikyo of their relationship. Then, when she misunderstood a goodbye kiss, Kagome is almost killed by his past lover, and Inuyasha’s demon is released. How can Inuyasha save Kagome this time?


**Summary: **After some time spent alone, Inuyasha promises Kagome to inform Kikyo of their relationship. Then, when she misunderstood a goodbye kiss, Kagome is almost killed by his past lover, and Inuyasha's demon is released. How can Inuyasha save Kagome this time?  
**Chapter One  
****Rating: **M

oOo

She couldn't see; couldn't smell; couldn't hear: She couldn't even _breathe_. The only thing she _could_ do was feel, and it _hurt_.

The cold surrounded her and pierced through her fragile body as though knives were being plunged through it; her lips were dried and chapped, her face and body bloodied and bruised.

_"Kagome!"_

She couldn't hear the pain in the voice that shouted her name; couldn't feel the rough hands gently remove her from the ground, couldn't feel her body being warmly framed by another's, nor could she feel the tears that dripped from his face onto her own, the droplets freezing instantly against her cold skin.

Pain was everywhere; it surrounded her, it was _inside_ her, tearing apart her already broken heart into millions of pieces, and she knew that her heart could never be repaired again.

The ache was engulfing her and Kagome Higurashi could feel her consciousness slowly slipping away; she welcomed it.

And the pain was gone.

When the World Ends

Kagome awoke to the fresh scent of bubbling stew, a leftover of last night's dinner. She eagerly breathed in the smell, enjoying the way the enticing scent seemed to warm her body from the inside out.

"Good morning, Kagome!" said a loud voice from across the room.

Kagome didn't even have time to answer before a small, orange hairball crashed into her stomach and knocked her flat on her back.

"Now, now, Shippo. Kagome just woke up, give her time adjust to the light," Kagome heard the old woman, Kaede, say.

Shippo nodded into her stomach and slowly got off her. Kagome sat up and grinned.

"Good morning, Shippo. Good morning, Kaede," she said. She looked around the room to see that her two companions, Sango and Miroku, were still asleep. They slept on opposite sides of the hut, but it seemed that they rolled towards each other during the night.

Kagome giggled. They were just too cute.

"Good morning, Kagome," Kaede said. "How was your sleep?"

"It was _great!_ I don't remember if I had any dreams, but I had never been so comfortable—" Kagome replied. "Except for when I'm sleeping in my bed in my time…" she added quietly.

"That's good, that's good."

"Kagome, do you want to know what I dreamed about?" asked Shippo eagerly, his bright green eyes shining up at her. Kagome smiled sweetly down at him.

"Not right now, Shippo. Why don't you wait until Miroku and Sango wake up before you tell me, that way they can hear about it too."

Shippo nodded and returned to his resting place near the pot of boiling stew and curled up next to the fire demon, Kirara.

"Hey," Kagome said, her eyes scanning the hut, "where's Inuyasha?"

"Just noticed I was gone, wench?" came a rough voice from the doorway, "took you long enough."

And Inuyasha marched into the hut, a load of firewood heaved over his shoulder. He walked to a deserted corner of the hut and let the wood fall to the floor, the loud bangs effectively waking the sleeping couple on the other side of the room.

"W—what? I'm awake…" Sango murmured, rubbing her eyes.

"Where's the demon?" said Miroku stupidly.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, frowning, "that wasn't very nice."

"Yeah, well, I'm not a nice person, am I?" Inuyasha growled at her. She looked taken aback at his tone, and averted her eyes.

**"Fool," **his inner demon snarled, **"Don't speak to our mate that way!"**

"Shut up!" Inuyasha hissed to himself. "She's not our mate!"

**"Not **_**yet**_**, anyway,"** his demon replied grudgingly.

"So—so where've you been, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked lightly, obviously not wanting to start an argument.

"Where do you _think_, wench?" said Inuyasha harshly, pointing to the firewood. "If you haven't noticed, it's snowing outside, and Kaede just ran out of firewood."

"O—oh…" Kagome said. She averted her eyes once again and stared at the boiling stew, but Inuyasha knew that she thought she made him upset somehow. Her scent was giving off the stench of alarm, and he mentally slapped himself on the forehead.

"**Stop making our bitch nervous, Hanyou!" **his demon yowled. **"Our mate is not supposed to feel awkward around us!"**

Shippo stared between the two of them, slightly confused. Kagome's scent started to change slightly to a more worrisome odor, and in response, Inuyasha's cold demeanor softened and it seemed that a warm chill suddenly swept the room.

"Well, why don't we eat?" said Sango, who felt out-of-place in the present atmosphere.

"Yes, my love, that seems like a wonderful idea," said Miroku, who was indifferent to the mood change. "I'll go get the bowls—"

"No need, Miroku," said old Kaede. "I've got everything right here."

"Let's eat, then," said Sango, and she began to pass out the dishes to everyone in the hut. They took their shares gratefully and dug in.

"Well, it seems that the weather will further prevent us from continuing our search of the shards," said Miroku, who was leaning back onto his forearms.

"I agree," said Shippo. He was lying on his stomach, apparently too full to move.

"So, Inuyasha?" Kagome inquired. "We've all deserved a nice break."

"Whatever, wench," Inuyasha growled, trying hard to ignore his raging demon. "You'll all get sick and hold me up if we went out there, anyway. It looks like there's going to be a blizzard."

True to his word, when Kagome stuck her head outside after breakfast, with the full intent of washing up, she came back in with snow plastered all over her face.

After cleaning the snow-turned-water that dripped down to the rest of her body (which didn't go unnoticed by a certain half-demon who sat in the dark corner, watching her hungrily), Kagome packed up her bag with her supplies and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going, wench?" Inuyasha was suddenly in front of her, blocking her path.

"To the hot springs—"

"In this weather?" Inuyasha interrupted.

"They hardly ever freeze and I—"

"No—I'd rather not drag your frozen carcass back here, wench. You're not going anywhere—"

"I'll go with you, Kagome!" Sango said enthusiastically.

"Me, too!" said Shippo.

"Wait—I just said—"

"I believe a good, warm soak is in order. I'll join you, ladies!"

"Hang on just a—"

"Actually—" said Kagome, who cocked her head to the side and was scratching her temple with her dainty finger (something that was completely adorable to the demon inside of Inuyasha), "it might be fun if the guys came with us."

All the noise fell into silence. Everyone stared at her in shock; even Kaede was speechless. Miroku, unfortunately, was the quickest to recover.

"Excellent! Come, Sango, I'll help you wash your back!"

"More like _butt_," Shippo muttered, snickering.

"What the hell are you going on about, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked quickly. He was getting tired of being interrupted. On the inside, his demon was howling with joy at the thought of bathing with his mate. Inuyasha couldn't help but agree.

"I—I didn't mean _naked_!" Kagome screeched (Inuyasha's demon fell into a sulky state). She could feel herself blushing to the edge of her toes. "I meant that we might as well all go together, with our clothes _on_," she said pointedly to Miroku, who was loudly exclaiming how he planned to strip a blushing Sango of her clothes.

"Besides," Kagome added, "my friends and I did it once in the cold. We rolled around in the snow and then jumped into the hot tub—or spring, as it would be called here—but it was really nice!"

Inuyasha stared at her as if she were crazy.

"You rolled around in the _snow_?" he said. She grinned and nodded up at him.

"That's…interesting…" Sango piped, still blushing madly.

"It sounds fun!" Shippo yelled, clearly excited.

**"It does sound fun…"** Inuyasha's demon growled happily. **"Hanyou, just imagine the effect the snow will have on our bitches' plump, juicy—"**

"All right, then! Let's do it!" said Kagome enthusiastically. "Kaede, would you like to join us?"

Unnoticed by her, Miroku and Inuyasha (whose blush had completely faded from his demons last comment) faked gagging in the background.

Kaede gave a gentle smile, also not noticing the boy's antics.

"It sounds fun, Kagome, but my old body is too weak to cope in such weather. You young ones go off by yourselves—I will begin to prepare lunch."

"Well, we'll be back as soon as we can to help, then," said Sango.

"Aye, ye take your time," Kaede replied, her wrinkles spreading upwards into a small smile.

"Thank you very much, Lady Kaede," Miroku said, slightly green in the face at the thought of Kaede coming along to bathe with them.

"C'mon, guys! Let's go!" Shippo yelled, impatient.

"We're coming, Shippo. I've just got to finish packing, first," Kagome said gently.

"What the hell do you need to pack for, wench? We're going to the hot spring!" Inuyasha barked angrily.

**"Shut up, you idiot!"** his demon snarled. **"This is the moment we've been waiting for since we met her; don't screw this up!"**

"Well, sorry, Inuyasha, but a woman needs her bathing supplies!" Kagome shouted testily.

"She's right," Sango commented. She too was gathering her necessities.

When the girls were finished (**"Finally!"** Inuyasha's demon growled), they headed off into the cold…and immediately scrambled back into the hut, shivering.

"_Now _what?"

"I—It's f—f—freezing!" Kagome stuttered, rubbing her arms. Sango did the same.

Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo, however, were comfy in their thick robes, and watched, amused, as the girls attempted to warm themselves up.

"Why don't you put some clothes on, then?" Inuyasha snarled. His demon barked in disapproval.

"Well, we're taking it off anyway, aren't we? And the rest of my clothes haven't been properly washed since the storm started, and I don't want to dirty my clean ones!"

At this statement, Inuyasha blushed madly and Miroku, who got a dazed look in his eyes, stared intently at Sango, and looked as if he was about to faint.

"Damn it, wench—"

Inuyasha strode over to Kagome, hauled her and her bag over his shoulder ("Hey! What're you doing?" she hissed), and sprinted, faster than the wind, to the hot spring.

Gently, Inuyasha set her down on her feet, and, after straitening herself out, she smacked him hard on the arm.

"Ouch! Wench—"

"Don't scare me like that, you jerk!"

"What're you talking about? You should be used to it!"

"Well, I'm not! Haven't you learned enough manners to know that you're not supposed to manhandle a lady?"

"_What_ lady? All I see is _you_!"

Kagome's eyes narrowed in anger, and while she was stammering for an insult, Inuyasha took the time to fully appreciate her and their surroundings.

Kagome was red in the face, from both anger and the cold, her chest was heaving as the oxygen entered and exited her lungs, accentuating the size of her breasts, her legs were spread slightly, causing her skimpy school uniform to hike up several inches, the snow that still fell around them acted as a halo that made her skin glow beautifully, and the steam that was slowly rising from the hot spring made her look utterly sexy.

He heard her shouting at him, but couldn't comprehend her words. He seemed to be too stunned to speak.

Just before Inuyasha realized that Kagome was waiting for him to say something, Miroku, panting and red faced, sprinted into the area, carrying a blushing Sango and an eager Shippo.

"A—about time!" Inuyasha shouted, red in the face

Miroku fell to the ground, clutching a stitch in his side while Sango and Shippo walked over to where Kagome was glaring at Inuyasha, and caught her attention by asking if they should start "rolling around in the snow."

At the word "snow", everyone suddenly seemed to realize how freezing it was, even though a boiling hot spring was right next to them.

"W—well," stuttered Sango, "w—what do we do n—now—?"

"I—I suppose w—we've got to get rid of s—some of our clothes," said Kagome, who began to rub her arms again. "O—otherwise, t—the bath w—won't feel as n—nice—"

In the corner of his eye, Inuyasha saw Miroku flash a perverted grin at the girls.

"Well, let us strip, then!" he shouted enthusiastically. He turned and sauntered to Sango, who glared at him and took several steps back. "Come, Sango!" Miroku proclaimed. "Let me caress your wondrous body as I slide your clothing over your round—"

He was cut off by a stinging slap to the face. Sango, blushing madly, grabbed Kagome and dragged her behind a large tree. Inuyasha watched them go, bemused.

**"Where the hell is the woman taking our mate?"** Inuyasha's demon asked, bewildered. He knew that Sango was part of his pack, and wasn't worried that the slayer was with his mate, but the fact that his bitch wasn't within his range of sight bothered him.

"Calm down," Inuyasha murmured, "they're just changing behind that tree…"

Inuyasha trailed off; trying to listen to the small, whispered conversation they were having behind the banyan tree.

"So, do we _really_ just roll around in the snow?" he heard Sango ask. There was a rustling of clothing, indicating that they were beginning rid themselves of their garments.

"Well," came Kagome's voice (Inuyasha's demon purred at the sound of it), "my friends and I just threw snow and tackled each other to the ground—it was freezing, but I don't remember having so much fun in my life!"

"And then you jumped into the hot spring?"

"Yeah, but the hot springs here are a lot hotter than the ones back home; we might have to be a bit careful—the steam and sudden heat might make us dizzy, or something…"

They stopped talking and Inuyasha could hear more clothing being tossed around.

"Inuyasha," said a small voice behind him. Inuyasha turned and stared at Shippo, who was looking up at him with large, green eyes. He was completely naked except for the small loincloth he wore.

"What do you want, brat? And why're you half naked?" Inuyasha growled.

"Now, now, Inuyasha," Miroku said. Inuyasha glared at him before turning away when he saw that Miroku wasn't wearing anything except a fundoshi either. "The whole point of this expedition was to "roll around in the snow"! You're _supposed_ to strip!"

"Like _hell _I'd—"

"Oh, _come on_, Inuyasha—don't be a party pooper!" said a feminine voice.

Inuyasha and Miroku turned in their spots to see the girls emerging from their changing area behind the tree. Their breath caught in their throats.

They wore nothing but two, long strips of cloth that covered both of their womanly assets, and both of their arms were crossed over their chests. They were remarkably short, as well; if the tiny cloth that covered Kagome's nether regions lifted up just a bit, then Inuyasha would have a great view of what she hid under it.

The girls didn't seem too cold anymore, either—or they were trying to hide it, but Inuyasha saw the way Kagome shivered as the falling snow made contact with her skin. Almost immediately, his demon growled, **"Look at her breast, hanyou; let's see what it is she's trying to hide…"**

Next to him, Miroku coughed loudly and exclaimed, "So, what do we do now, ladies?"

"Well," Sango started, "Kagome said that she and her friends started to tackle each other to the ground—"

"Like this!" Kagome yelled, and she suddenly charged at Sango, her arms spread open, sprang, and knocked her friend to the cold, frozen ground.

Instantly, they both began to wrestle, laughing while they did so. Kagome sat on top, straddling Sango's hips, which were bucking as she tried to throw her off.

Then, Sango grabbed a handful of snow and, aiming for Kagome's face, smashed it into her chest.

"Missed me!" Kagome laughed, and Sango laughed with her.

Finally, Sango succeeded in bucking Kagome off of her, and instantly rolled them over so that she lay between Kagome's open legs.

"Not this time!" Sango yelled mirthfully, and she grabbed another handful of snow and shoved it into her friends face, stifling her laughter for a moment when the snow entered her open mouth.

"I want to play!" Shippo yelled, and he bound over to them with snow-filled hands.

Inuyasha and Miroku, however, stood where they were; their eyes wide and mouth's open as they stared, mesmerized, at the girls.

The snow that Sango had shoved into Kagome's chest melted away, and the droplets left tantalizing trails of water as they dripped into the valley of her breasts. Both of their garments had ridden up considerably, and they had an excellent view of their bottoms (Which, Inuyasha realized with strange disappointment, were covered in a cloth that he instantly recognized to be Kagome's). Their bodies were so close together that their breasts were touching, and the redness in their cheeks from exertion made it look as though they had just finished doing something _very_ naughty…

The girls, however, noticed nothing, and continued wrestling with Shippo rolling between them.

Now, it was Kagome who was trying to buck Sango off; the action even causing Inuyasha's demon to become speechless. He watched, captivated, as her panty-clad nether-region rolled up and down the soft curve of Sango's well-toned stomach; reaching her naval before sliding heatedly along her skin to rest on her thighs before repeating the process all over again.

His eyes traveled slowly up his bitch's stomach, resting on her naval for only a moment before continuing its trail upwards, following the faint line that made the clear distinction of her developing abs. Finally, they rested on her breasts, and he realized, with a sharp jolt to his groins, that she wasn't wearing that contraption he heard her calling a "bra"…

Her nipples stood out proudly against the cold. The movement of Kagome rolling up and down Sango's body caused her breasts jiggle and rub against Sango's, who was leaning over her, her own nipples hardened from the cold. They were still laughing…

Finally, Kagome brought her long, tanned legs up to her chest (giving Inuyasha an amazing view), before placing her feet on Sango's chest, and playfully shoved her best friend off of her.

Sango fell backwards onto her bottom, but quickly noticed that Shippo was standing right behind her and switched her position to the side, as not to crush him, so that she was on her hands and knees.

Kagome was soon on top of her; flattening her friend to the ground, her legs on either side of Sango's round bottom (which was still revealing Kagome's panties), and her lower area pressed intimately against the soft curve.

Kagome leaned over Sango's back, her hardened peaks brushing against Sango's back muscles, and reached for more of the snow.

Sango, however, arched her back: her bottom grinding into Kagome's most intimate places, and Kagome, losing her balance, fell forward with a loud squeak so that she lay completely on top of Sango, squashing her breasts into her back.

Sango was now on her knees, the only thing supporting her and Kagome's weight, being as her arms were crushed under her from Kagome falling onto her back. Both of their bottoms were stuck high in the air.

Inuyasha almost lost himself to his instinct. The sight of Kagome's lush bottom thrust so high in the air; it was as if it was calling to him…just this position of her body almost caused his demon to take over.

Kagome, attempting to regain her balance and give Sango some air, tried to sit up, but, due to their leverage, slid down Sango's body so that she sat on her friend's upper back. They were both still red faced and laughing hard.

Shippo, who was beginning to feel left out, grabbed a handful of snow and charged at Kagome, shoving the snow into her chest and knocked her backwards so that the back of her head was pressed intimately against Sango's bottom, which was reddening due to the cold.

Both of guys were still watching the girls, their laughter ringing in their ears.

Finally, Kagome rolled off of Sango and lay at her side, panting. Sango, too, rolled over so that she lay on her back, her whole front wet from being pressed into the snow.

Miroku, who had fallen to his knees in the process of watching the two friends wrestling, was now sporting a bloody nose and large tent.

Inuyasha looked down and noticed that he also had formed an erection sometime during their playing, and turned red in embarrassment. The girls, still panting, didn't notice as Inuyasha and Miroku both turned around and fell to the ground, pressing their crotches into the cold snow in an attempt to release some of the blood that was cooped up there.

"That—" Inuyasha heard Kagome gasp, "was _really_ fun!"

"It was!" said Sango. "I don't even feel cold, anymore!"

"How about it, guys? Do you want to—Hey! What's the matter?"

Inuyasha scoffed at Kagome's question. How dense could this girl get? He heard the soft pattering of feet and suddenly, Kagome's hands were on him, grabbing at his haori to roll him onto his back. He remained where he was; mortified at the thought of what Kagome's reaction would be when she found out what the reason was as to why he laid on his stomach.

"Miroku?" Sango asked, tentatively poking at the priest's back. He groaned in response before sitting up, the ground beneath him soaked with his blood. "A—are you…okay…? Why do you have a bloody nose?"

Miroku gave her a wary grin.

"I'm fine, dearest Sango…I just…tripped…"

Inuyasha snorted into the ground, and immediately regretted it, as large amounts of snow shot up his nose.

"Inuyasha?" he heard Kagome inquire. Inuyasha's heart stopped—what was he supposed to say to her? There was no way he was going to tell her about his—_problem_.

"I…" Inuyasha started, before pausing. He lifted himself off the ground, very slightly, and glanced down. The tent was gone. "…tripped, too," he finished lamely, sitting up properly to face Kagome.

To his surprise, she grinned at him.

"Well, c'mon, then!" Kagome yelled, and she tackled him to the ground so hard that he was flat on his back, her legs straddling his hips.

Instinctively, Inuyasha's hands went straight for her waist, but she was so wet and slippery that his hands slid down to caress her hips and thighs.

Kagome paused and Inuyasha stared up at her fearfully—he hadn't meant to touch her like that (though he thoroughly enjoyed it)—but his fear quickly faded when he noticed that she was staring behind her back.

Inuyasha craned his neck to see what she was staring at and saw that Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were all toppled on top of each other, laughing and smearing snow in one another's faces.

Kagome turned back around and stared down at him, grinning.

"Aren't they so cute?" she asked. She frowned suddenly and looked down, and for a fleeting second, Inuyasha thought she finally noticed that his hands were in a place where they weren't supposed to be, but instead, she said, "Why do you still have your clothes on, Inuyasha? That's no fun!"

She began to tear at his clothes; untying the knot of his thin sash first before sliding it out from under him and opening his hakama.

Inuyasha's demon was roaring with joy as Kagome viciously tore his inner haori away, leaving his chest bare to the cold.

**"Yes!" **his demon bellowed. **"Finally, our bitch is ready to mate!"**

_"No!"_ Inuyasha thought hastily. _"She doesn't know what she's doing—"_

Kagome suddenly cut his thoughts off as she slid slightly down his body, accidentally grinding her crotch against his. Inuyahsa fought the urge to buck into her. Didn't she know what this was doing to him?

_"She doesn't know what she's doing!"_ Inuyasha repeated in his head, though rather weakly. _"She thinks we're—"_

He was cut off yet again by another luscious stroke from Kagome's bottom. This time, she rolled back up his body to tug his clothes out from under him. He didn't even notice when she laid the Tetsusaiga beside him.

"I'll leave your pants on, if you like," Kagome grinned down at him, unabashedly. Apparently, she had no idea the meaning behind the words she just uttered.

**"I want you to take them off, bitch—with your teeth,"** Inuyasha's demon purred huskily. Inuyasha held in a groan at the thought.

"W—whatever, wench—" Inuyasha choked out, for she leaned over him to reach for some snow and her barely covered breasts were left dangling in front of him, her peaks dangerously close to his suddenly dry mouth.

Inuyasha licked his lips and gulped. Every movement Kagome made caused her breasts to jiggle tantalizingly and he desperately fought his demon back within him.

**"She is giving us a sign, hanyou,"** his demon snapped, **"Take her!"**

Inuyasha didn't answer; he was concentrating on the woman on top of him, who had pulled back (much to his disappointment) and grinned down at him once again, her hand filled with a large amount of snow.

Just as Inuyasha moved his gaze up to her eyes did she bring down her snow-filled hand and slammed it right into his face, giggling loudly as he choked on the snow.

His hand shot up, grabbed her wrist, and pulled it away from his face, holding it tightly to her side. Inuyasha spat out the snow and smirked up at Kagome, playfulness brightening her eyes to an extent that his demon forgot about mating and concentrated on playing with his bitch.

In an instant, Inuyasha had them rolled over; he was on top of her, between her legs, the same position she was in with Sango. The knowledge made his blood flow even faster.

"Got you…" Inuyasha whispered huskily, grinning at Kagome's surprised squeak. His hands, which were still situated on her hips, slowly began to slide their way up her body, stopping just at the curve of her breast before gliding back down, over her waist, her hips and down even further to cup her bottom; the flimsy cloth had ridden up enough that anyone could see what he was doing, and he shoved her panties towards their center so that he had direct contact with her skin.

Kagome gasped and the sound instantly sent shivers down Inuyasha's spine and exploded in his loins.

**"Finally…"** his demon purred.

_'Finally…'_ Inuyasha echoed.

Grinning down at her, Inuyasha gently massaged her bottom (Kagome turned scarlet) before sliding his hands back up her body to rest on her stomach. Then, with the pads of his fingers, he pushed.

The effect was immediate. Kagome let out a loud yelp and bucked underneath him. He did it again, and again—again until Kagome was red in the face from laughter as he tickled her fragile body.

"I—Inu—Ya—Yasha—!" Kagome gasped. He chuckled softly in her ear, then he licked the outer ridge of her lobe; her laughter stopped immediately, and was replaced with a soft moan.

Oblivious to her actions, Kagome planted her feet on the ground and lifted her hips, grinding hard into Inuyasha's.

Suddenly, Inuyasha could feel the markings burning into his skin in long stripes; he could feel his eyes begin to bleed red, and he pushed down on her with as much force as she did.

It didn't matter if the others were watching them or not (by the sounds of it, they were either watching, or had left), but Inuyasha knew that Kagome was finally—_finally_—ready for him.

His blood flowed instantly to his cock; he could feel himself hardening and growing; could feel himself pulse with anticipation as his blood pumped wildly through his veins.

Kagome kept her eyes on him the whole time, but was unsurprised when his markings made their appearance. Somehow, she had always known that something like this would happen.

She reached tentatively upwards, trailing her hands softly up the hardened muscles of his biceps and locked them around his neck.

He growled in approval and she smiled shyly up at him.

But suddenly, her smile vanished. Her warm, playful demeanor turned into one of irritation and…fear?

Before he could contemplate her further, before she could utter the first syllable of his name, he was knocked harshly aside and landed on his back.

Long claws were viciously tearing apart his skin, but it didn't matter.

His mating was interrupted, and he was _pissed_.

He shoved the body off of him and stood, facing the demon who dared to postpone his mating. His scent was familiar, but Inuyasha instantly recognized it as a rival male—someone whom he had to fight for his bitch's affections.

"Koga—" Kagome started, but the sheer intensity of the hatred between the two demons rendered her speechless.

"Silence, mate," Koga growled, "I will speak with you about your actions later—"

Koga was cut off when Inuyasha suddenly tackled him to the cold ground. He let out a grunt of surprise which quickly turned into one of pain as Inuyasha pulled back his fist and slammed it into Koga's jaw.

Distantly, Inuyasha could hear his mate's scream, but that didn't matter right now. This bastard had called Kagome _his_ mate, and he would pay for it.

With amazing speed, Koga blocked Inuyasha's second attack: a harsh punch to the ribs, and shoved the demon off of him. He quickly followed and aimed a powerful kick to Inuyasha's head.

It landed, and Inuyasha was sent flying through the air and crashed through several trees behind the hot spring.

In an instant, he was back on his feet and charging at Koga. Blood was trickling down his temple, chest, and back, but he hardly felt the pain.

"Inuyasha, stop it—!" Kagome started, but he was only paying attention to the fight. "Koga—please!"

Koga glanced at her, but it was a fatal second that Inuyasha gladly took to tear his claws across the wolf-demons chest. His armor was ripped off and three long gashes took its place.

Before Koga could react, Inuyasha quickly followed this attack with another punch to the face; his neck twisted to the side sharply at the impact.

Kagome screamed louder than ever and glanced around for help—anything to make these two stop fighting.

She saw Sango, Miroku, and Shippo, standing off to the side, but they were staring in horror at the scene. They couldn't help—it was up to Kagome. Slowly, she stood on shaky legs.

Koga, who had fallen to the ground sometime during the fight, stood; bloody and battered.

Inuyasha stood in front of him, growling at the demon and smirking in pleasure. The wolf was greatly weakened—they had hardly started.

Inuyasha took a step towards Koga, intent on finishing off the competition, but a loud voice suddenly echoed in his ears:

"Inuyasha—sit!"

Inuyasha felt a sharp tug around his neck, and he was pulled irresistibly to the ground. He lifted his head and Kagome gasped when she saw that the marking were still spread across his cheeks, his eyes still red.

There was a sharp pattering of feet, a stifled yelp, and suddenly, Inuyasha had been lifted off the ground and Koga was punching him any where he could reach; he could feel his bones shatter; his blood running freely down his body.

He was thrown roughly to the grown, where Koga began to kick viciously at him.

One of kicks was aimed to his head, but Inuyasha saw it coming and tilted his head, dodging it, but his ear—

"Koga—stop it—_stop it!_"

He could smell his mates fear; her tears, and suddenly, he had strength.

Koga aimed another kick to his head, but Inuyasha caught it with his clawed hand, held it tightly, and twisted.

He heard the cracking of bones, but the sound seemed dull in his left ear; it felt as though warm water was pouring down his ear to prevent him from hearing properly.

Inuyasha quickly got to his feet. Koga was caressing his broken leg, and used the tree for support.

Inuyasha smirked and flexed his lengthened claws, but before he could so much as even take a step toward the demon, a small body threw itself in front of him and hugged him tightly.

He looked down and saw his mate, sobbing her eyes out into his bare, bloody chest.

"Stop it," she cried, "_Please_, just _stop!"_

**"Stand aside, mate," **Inuyasha growled; he wanted to finish off this piece of wolf filth so that they could get back to their mating.

Kagome didn't seem to have heard him, for she did not step aside, but kept crying into his chest.

**"Mate…"** Inuyasha growled again. He was losing his patience.

"Kagome…" said a soft voice.

Inuyasha snapped his head to the side and saw the slayer making her way towards them, slowly. He growled viciously at her and she stopped immediately, though glared hard at him.

"Sango, stay back," Miroku started.

Sango heeded and did not keep treading forward, but she didn't return to Miroku and Shippo, either.

Inuyasha gave another harsh snarl, and all three of them jumped in surprise.

"He wants us to leave," said Shippo quietly. "He wants us to return to Kaede's…"

"What?" Sango hissed. "I'm not leaving—"

Inuyasha's snarling increased in volume, cutting her off. Shippo jumped a mile from the ground, turned hastily, and kneeled, his back to Inuyasha. He bent his head forward.

Miroku merely looked confused, but, after a second, realization dawned on his features, and he too followed Shippo.

"Quickly, Sango," he muttered, head bowed. "Kneel!"

"What?" Sango asked. What was wrong with them?

"Just do it!" Miroku said sharply, and she stared at him before following his orders; he never yelled at her.

Sango slowly turned on the spot so that she was facing the backs of Shippo and Miroku, kneeled, and bowed her head.

Inuyasha's growling ceased immediately, and he smirked. The pup obviously knew what to do when in the alpha's presence, but the two humans didn't; the only reason why they weren't dead was because they followed the pups' actions.

Inuyasha stared back down at his mate, who was still crying in his arms. He would tend to her later once he had killed the wolf and made sure the other three weren't a threat.

He lowered his head to her neck and whined softly, his lips pressing warmly against the skin of her throat.

Kagome gave a startled jump, but stopped crying immediately. Inuyasha pulled back and stared down at her before picking her up and setting her by the spring.

He rumbled something sharply in her ear and Kagome jumped. Though she couldn't understand what he had said, the look in his eyes told her everything. **Stay here. Don't move.**

Before letting her go, Inuyasha glanced towards the wolf demon and noticed, with much pleasure, that he had passed out from the pain, and was lying, his hands still on his leg, under a large tree.

Then, standing up, he made his way towards the two humans and the pup. The pup tensed when he made his way over, and Inuyasha smirked.

He bent low until he was level with them, and bent even lower to sniff their necks. It was respectful for the pack to reveal their necks to their alpha—Inuyasha was surprised that the pup knew how to do it; he was so young, but turning his back on the alpha left him completely vulnerable to the alphas' attacks and could help gain his trust immediately.

After sniffing over their necks, Inuyasha leaned back up and stared at them all, satisfied. Though it was very faint, he could smell himself on all of them, mostly on their arms, where, he guessed, he had once snatched them out of harms way.

Inuyasha stood back up and pulled Sango and Miroku up with him. They were startled, but did not resist; both were shivering with the cold.

Inuyasha plucked Shippo up by the scruff of the neck, ignoring the slayer as she instinctively reached out for him. Slowly, he turned the pup in hands and stared him straight in the eyes.

He wasn't surprised to meet tear-filled, fearful eyes. The pup suddenly started to struggle, obviously uncomfortable in his hold, but, in his haste, accidentally kicked Inuyasha in the face.

Inuyasha snarled and leaned forward, biting the pup on the neck. Shippo stilled immediately, but was still shaking with fright and cold.

**"Pup," **Inuyasha growled in demon tongue. Shippo jumped and answered back with a small yip. Miroku and Sango watched from the side, terrified. **"You will take the humans back to our elders' den, do you understand?"**

Shippo, who could barely move due to the hold Inuyasha had him in, merely leaned his head forward and rubbed his cheek against Inuyasha's.

Inuyasha relinquished his hold on Shippo immediately before gently placing him in Sango's arms. He could tell that he was normally rough with the pup, but he was the only young they had until he and his mate reproduced, so he'd have to be careful.

**"Go," **Inuyasha barked roughly.

Shippo hurriedly gave whispered instructions to the other humans, and, though they looked highly reluctant, turned and slowly treaded away from the spring, occasionally glancing back but never stopping.

Satisfied, Inuyasha turned and walked back to his mate, who was still sitting at the spring staring up at him, apparently awe-struck.

His eyes shifted over to the wolf that was still unconscious under the tree and, eyes narrowing, Inuyasha redirected his feet towards his rival.

Another pattering of feet, and, once again, his mate was in front of him, her arms stretched in front of her and blocking his path to murder.

"Inuyasha, _stop_," she pleaded. "Just—just _don't!_"

**"Mate…"** Inuyasha rumbled. **"He called you his mate…"**

Kagome jumped and looked up at him, startled; she could understand him.

"I—What?"

Inuyasha didn't answer, but grabbed her outstretched arm and tugged her roughly toward him. She gave a surprised squeak: the sound sent shivers down his spine and a warmth spreading in his center.

"Inuyasha—what are you doing? We have to tend to you injuries—"

**"Bitch…"** he murmured, diving his head into the crook of her neck. He gave a long, slow lick from her neck up to her ear before pausing and nibbling on her lobe, grinning as her scent spiked immediately.

"Inu—oh!" Kagome gasped; he had pulled her even closer to him—so close, in fact, that she could feel a hardening length against her abdomen. Red had a new definition when Kagome deduced what it was.

"Inuyasha," Kagome panted, "stop…"

Inuyasha growled in her ear and began to rub against her, loving the friction his clothes caused, yet annoyed it was there.

Kagome instinctively tried to pull away, but Inuyasha snarled at her and pulled her even tighter to him. Inuyasha growled low in her ear, rubbing his hands sensually up her bare back.

Kagome arched into him, her almost bare chest pressing into his, and he rumbled in pleasure at the feel of her hardened nipples against his chest.

Inuyasha fumbled clumsily with the thin strip of cloth that hid her breasts from view, playing with the knot at her upper back. Without a second thought, Inuyasha ran his lengthened claws through the fabric and shred the cloth away.

"_Inuyasha!"_ Kagome shrieked, covering her breasts.

He snarled viciously at her, the sound of her cry hurting his ears—but suddenly, the pain hit him like a ton of bricks and he fell to his knees, cradling his head in his hands.

"Inuyasha?" he heard his mate ask, suddenly concerned. She crouched next to him and placed her hands over his own, which had moved up to nurse his ears.

Gently, Kagome pried his hands from his head, and gasped at what she saw, tears instantly welling up in her eyes.

His whole left ear had been torn off from Koga's last kick; the blood was trickling slowly down inside his ear and the side of his head.

Kagome clasped her hand to her mouth, horrified. The wound was already healing, but would his ear grow back? It should, right? Kagome thought. He's a demon…

Kagome barely noticed that Inuyasha had started growling again, but his snarls became much more prominent when he tugged her to him and glared behind her at a place where she knew that Koga was laying.

She half-turned and looked out of the corner of her eyes at the wolf demon. He had woken up and was glaring hard at Inuyasha, his own growl apparent.

Kagome became suddenly aware that she was half-naked, and, apparently, Inuyasha realized it, too, for he snatched at his haori, which was sprawled on the cold forest ground where Kagome had discarded it, and threw it over her shoulders.

Kagome instantly wrapped the cloth around herself.

"You bastard," Koga snarled. "How _dare_ you touch my mate!"

_'Oh, no,' _Kagome thought, her eyes widening. _'Not again…'_

The damage had been done, however, and Inuyasha stood to face his rival.

**"The bitch is **_**mine**_**," **Kagome heard Inuyasha bark roughly. She realized, with another jolt, that she could still understand the words he was saying. Was he speaking their language, or could she somehow understand demon talk? He must be speaking Japanese, if she could understand Koga.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome started, standing up as well. She heard him grunt in acknowledgment, but he didn't turn to look at down at her. "Stop this—_please_," she begged.

**"I will soon, mate," **Inuyasha said soothingly. **"Once I've killed off this piece of wolf shit."**

Kagome almost groaned in irritation and fear. It was no use trying to get through to him.

"Koga…" Kagome pleaded, "please…"

Koga looked from her, to Inuyasha, and back again. For a split second, Kagome saw confusion and hurt flicker in the demons eyes, but when she blinked, it was gone.

"Don't worry, mate," Koga murmured, struggling to stand up on one leg. "Once this mutt is dead, you won't have to worry about being stuck with him anymore."

Not even a second later and Koga was off his feet, pinned to the tree behind with by his neck.

**"She is **_**not**_** your mate!"** Inuyasha snarled ruthlessly, hatred and rage burning in his eyes. **"She's mine!"**

Koga's eyes widened as Inuyasha pressed harder on his Adam's apple; he could feel his windpipe crushing under the pressure—

"Stop it—Inuyasha—sit!"

Inuyasha plummeted to the ground, his face smashing into the dirt. His markings receded and the sharpness to his fangs faded, but he didn't notice as he began to bubble with anger at the fact the Kagome sat him. Before he opened his mouth, however, he heard her talking apologetically to someone.

"I'm sorry, Koga," she said. Inuyasha bristled. What the hell was that wolf doing here? Just as he was about to voice his question, Kagome continued, "I think it'll be better if you leave…"

Inuyasha paused. What? She was getting rid of the wolf?

"Kagome," Koga started, "I'm not going anywhere without you—this mutt's too dangerous!"

"_Please,_ Koga. Just go…"

There was a long pause, and Inuyasha guessed that Koga was just staring at her, but then he smelt Kagome's tears, and lifted himself from the ground, intent on killing the wolf and comforting his mate.

Before he had risen to full height, Kagome was on top of him, sobbing her eyes out into his bare chest. Inuyasha felt a brief sense of déjà vu, but brushed it off. The wolf was gone.

"Kagome?" he asked, awkwardly patting her back. He hated it when she cried. "Why're you crying, wench?"

If anything, she only sobbed harder into his chest, and he felt his heart clench.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and held her close, trying to enjoy the moment that he was alone with her (though a bit confused as to why she was crying), but there was a throbbing in his left ear that wouldn't go away. Instead, the pain increased each second. He looked down at himself and realized, with surprise, that he was covered in blood. What the hell happened?

"Kagome," Inuyasha started softly. She jumped in his arms and buried her face into the crook of his neck, her hands pressed tightly against his chest and shoulders. "Kagome, what happened?"

Kagome pulled back and looked at him as if she had never seen him before, and Inuyasha realized, with a jolt, that he didn't like it when she looked at him like that.

"You don't…remember?" she asked with such a sorrowful tone that Inuyasha's heart stopped beating for a second.

He looked down at his body again, and examined his claws. They were soaked with blood. His eyes widened slightly, and he lifted his hand to feel his cheek for the markings that weren't there, staring at her.

"I didn't—don't tell me I—"

Inuyasha pulled away from her and stood back several feet, staring at her to his hands. His eyes scanned her body before he pulled her once again into his arms and sniffed her all over, checking for injuries.

He started at her face, turning her head this way and that to gain more access to her body before moving to her neck. After his first whiff, Inuyasha shook his head in confusion; why was his scent so strong here? He didn't bother with it, however; as long as she wasn't hurt, but he couldn't help but notice that her scent was tainted with the bitter scent of stale fear.

He continued to search her body, slowly sinking to his knees as he sniffed lower and lower. He paused at her breasts and abdomen, surprised when he found that his scent was unusually strong, but what made him gasp was the fact that his scent was strongest near her nether-regions. What did he do?

"Inuyasha," Kagome said gently, "you didn't hurt me."

Despite the questions welling up in his body, Inuyasha felt his body relax against hers, and she could feel the tension leaking out of him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, his nose buried in abdomen.

Kagome nodded. There was a short pause.

"God damn it, Kagome!" Inuyasha snarled, suddenly angry. He stood up to face her properly and towered over her. "Why didn't you run away?"

"I didn't—"

"I could've killed you!"

"Inuyasha—I knew you wouldn't—"

But Inuyasha pulled away from her again and glared at his hands. Slowly, his gaze traveled upwards until his eyes were on her clothing, his haori was still wrapped tightly around her, but it wasn't in the dressy way she usually wore it.

Inuyasha took a tentative step toward her, reaching out with a clawed, bloody hand and undid the sash that kept the fire rat closed. Kagome held her breath while he did so, releasing it slowly when the folds of the haori fell away and her breasts were revealed to him.

Inuyasha pulled his hand back as though he had been burned and stared at her bare chest, frowning. Where was that strip of cloth she was wearing before everything had gone blank? Vaguely, he saw the fabric laying none to far from them, almost buried in the cold snow.

"I tried to rape you…" Inuyasha murmured, hatred for himself building in his chest. "That's why my scent is so strong…I tried to force you to—that's why you couldn't—" He left the sentence hanging and averted his eyes; he couldn't look at her anymore.

Kagome gasped and rushed towards him, her arms outstretched and intent on telling him what really happened, but Inuyasha recoiled.

"Don't come near me," he whispered hoarsely. His throat was closing up; it felt as though he couldn't breathe. "Stay away from me."

"No, Inuyasha—" Kagome said, starting towards him again. "That's not what happened!"

But Inuyahsa had jumped high into the tree that he was backing into. Kagome barely knew what had happened before she instinctively yelled, "Sit!"

Inuyasha plummeted to the ground for the third time. Kagome gasped and knelt by him, trying to ignore the amount of blood that was still trickling from his ear.

It was quiet for a second, and Kagome noticed that Inuyasha wasn't grumbling about being sat. He was too quiet.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered. Hesitantly, she extended her hand to slowly caress his uninjured ear; it twitched under her touch and she smiled.

Inuyasha lifted his head to gaze at her and her eyes filled up with tears. Kagome unhurriedly retracted her hand and grabbed his own, and gently lifted him from the ground.

"C'mon, Inuyasha," Kagome said, still smiling her teary smile. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Inuyasha couldn't speak; his throat had completely closed up on him, but that didn't matter. The look Kagome was giving him would have rendered him speechless, anyway.

She was looking at him with complete love and trust and adoration. How could she still look at him like that after he tried to rape her?

With complete cooperation, Inuyasha let Kagome lead him to the hot spring. He sat down on the edge and watched as she left behind the large banyan tree that she and Sango changed under and retrieved her enormous pack.

Instead of digging out her first-aid kit, like he expected, Kagome pulled out her soaps and shampoos and set them by the hot spring.

"Might as well clean you up before I tend to your injuries," she said, not looking at him. "Otherwise all of the bandages will get soaked."

Inuyasha didn't answer; he wasn't even looking at her anymore. Kagome pretended to take no notice as she helped him rid the rest of his clothing. At first, it looked as though he might protest, but with the force of many years of fighting demons, Kagome swatted his hands away and gently pushed him into the bubbling spring, clad only in his fundoshi.

Kagome looked down at her bare feet. She hadn't even realized how cold it was; she was too concerned about Inuyasha, but it looked as though her feet and legs were turning blue from the cold.

Inuyasha watched her as she examined her body and followed her eyes, growling as he realized that she was blue and shivering. Without coherent thought, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's hand and tugged her into the spring with him, throwing his haori to the cold ground as he did so.

Kagome squeaked as the hot water made contact with her freezing limbs, and for a moment, it was almost painful, but she took a deep breath and the pain slowly went away.

Kagome looked up at Inuyasha but he turned away from her slightly. From what she could see, the part of his face that was still revealed to her was a deep scarlet.

Kagome looked down and noticed, with a large blush of her own, that the spring water only reached to her waist and Inuyasha had removed his haori from her. Her nipples stood erect against the cold, and Kagome mentally thanked Inuyasha for having the decency to turn around as she plunged even further into the scalding water.

"Sorry," Kagome muttered, mortified. Inuyasha "Keh'd," and turned back around, still blushing. Kagome looked up at him and their eyes locked.

For a moment, they just stood there in the hot water, staring at each other until Kagome averted her gaze and reached for her bathing supplies. Her hand was caught in a larger one, however, and she gasped in surprise when Inuyasha turned her back around to look at him.

She avoided his gaze, and instead, stared down at their joined hands. Hers were so small and delicate next to his large ones: they could kill her easily…

"What happened, Kagome?" he asked, his golden eyes boring into her. Kagome bit her lip.

"Do you—what do you remember?" she asked, staring back up at him. This time, Inuyasha turned his gaze away from her to their hands.

"I remember," he started, "that I was—er—on top of you…and we were—" Inuyasha paused and his blush deepened. Kagome blushed as well. "Well, everything went blank after that."

Kagome sighed at this, pulled her hand out of his, and dragged her bathing supplies over to her. Inuyasha watched her, patient.

"Koga," she said. Inuyasha could feel a familiar hatred and jealously burn within him. "I don't really know—I suppose he misunderstood what he saw, because he just tackled you to the ground and you started fighting…"

At this, Inuyasha knew that she meant that Koga saw him on top of her, both of them almost bare of clothing, and probably assumed the worst. Inuyasha couldn't help but think that he would've done the same.

"You were tearing so viciously at each other," Kagome whispered, tears welling up once again in her eyes. "I thought you were going to kill each other…It scared me…"

Kagome gasped and buried her head into her hands. Inuyasha watched her, his heart clenching painfully as she sobbed before gathering her in his arms and hugging her tightly.

"I didn't mean to," he whispered. "I'm sorry…"

"No," Kagome replied, looking up at him. "It isn't you fault. You were trying to protect me…"

Kagome took several deep, shaky breaths before smiling up at him. Her tears left her eyes puffy and red, but she had stopped crying.

"Let's clean up," she said. "I have to hurry and wrap your ear before it gets infected…"

At her words, Inuyasha cautiously lifted his hand to his still-throbbing ear, and felt around. He flinched when he touched it.

"What happened to it?" he asked, pulling his hand back down and staring at the blood. Yet again, Kagome's eyes welled up with tears, but they didn't fall.

"I—I thought that I could turn you back to normal—" she started, "I thought I could stop you from killing Koga—so I sat you…but it didn't work—he just kept on hurting you—and when he kicked you—you moved—but he got—" Kagome couldn't finish. "I'm sorry—"

"You were just trying to help—I won't blame you," Inuyasha said softly, staring intently at her. He didn't think his fight with Koga would affect her so much.

"But it's my fault," Kagome countered. "If I hadn't sat you, then Koga never would've—"

Kagome faltered at the blazing look Inuyasha was giving her. The tears that were welled up in her eyes began to fall once more.

"You were trying to help," Inuyasha repeated, tenderly wiping a tear from her eye. "I don't blame you for it."

Kagome looked up at him again, with those eyes he loved so much; the eyes that were filled with love, and trust, and adoration, but he recoiled suddenly, disgusted with himself.

"Don't—" he whispered throatily. "Don't look at me like that…I don't deserve it…"

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, confused. Her tear flow didn't stop, but she ignored it.

"What else did I do?" Inuyasha demanded callously. Kagome looked at him in surprise at his tone.

"N—Nothing—"

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm _not_ lying—"

"Then why are doused in my scent?"

Kagome stared at him.

"W—what?"

"When I was checking you for injuries earlier," Inuyasha grunted, keeping his eyes on hers, "I smelt myself all over you."

He extended a hand toward her and caressed her neck.

"It was here…" his hand moved lower to her breasts, "…here," his hand moved even lower to brush against the cloth that covered her womanhood, "and here…"

"I don't—you didn't do anything wrong, Inuyasha—"

"I almost raped you!" Inuyasha shouted. His anger at himself was getting the better of him. "I've never done anything so dishonorable in my life! All this time, I thought I could control my stupid demon, but the second I let him out—my lust for you almost got you _raped_!"

"It wasn't rape if I _wanted_ it!" Kagome cried. Though her tears hadn't stopped, a fresh batch came to accompany them down her cheeks.

Inuyasha's previous anger melted away as Kagome clumsily wiped the tears from her eyes.

"What?" he said, his eyes wide. His rage suddenly reared again. "I thought I told you not to lie to me!"

"I'm _not_ lying!" Kagome sobbed.

"Then why were you so scared?" Inuyasha shouted.

"Because I thought Koga was going to kill you, you idiot! Just the _thought_ frightens me!"

Inuyasha stared at her, once again speechless.

Kagome glared hard at him after wiping her eyes and treaded, as quickly as she could through waist deep water, to the edge of the spring. Her hands on the edge of the spring, Kagome was about to haul herself out when strong arms wrapped around her waist.

"Where are you going?" Inuyasha asked softly.

"It's apparent that you don't want me here, Inuyasha," Kagome hissed. "You can take care of your injuries yourself."

She attempted to pry his arms away from her, but he held tight.

"Don't leave me…"

The plea made Kagome's heart stop.

She felt him press against her back, holding her tightly to him. Inuyasha leaned down and tenderly lapped at her neck, and Kagome knew he was apologizing in his own way.

Kagome sighed and leaned into him, enjoying the way he touched her, but then she remembered his injuries, and hurriedly broke away from his embrace and grabbed her bathing supplies, intent on washing him up so that she could tend to him.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, slightly hurt. His pain disappeared when he realized that she was just fetching her bath materials.

She dipped a washcloth under the water and held it up to him.

"Here," Kagome said, placing it into his outstretched hand. "Press it to your ear; I want to try and get the bleeding to stop before I wrap it."

Inuyasha complied and held in a painful wince at the contact of the hot water to his torn ear. It stung.

Apparently, he didn't cover his pain all that well, because Kagome gave him an apologetic smile and said, "Sorry, I know it stings, but the hot water will also help disinfect it."

Inuyasha nodded and watched as she grabbed another wash cloth, dipped it under water, and lathered it with her flowery scented soap. He backed away when she walked towards him.

"There's no way you're using that on me, wench," Inuyasha started. "That smells girly!"

Kagome giggled. "Oh, c'mon, Inuyasha! It's not that bad!"

"No!"

"Please?" Kagome begged, walking toward him with her hand outstretched. She gigged again when he gave her a terrified look and backed away from her.

"I said no!"

"But it's my favorite scent! It'll make you smell so delicious!" Mentally, Kagome grinned at her brilliance—it was hook, line, and sinker.

"It'll—I—_What?" _Inuyasha stuttered, suddenly flustered. He took a minute to think; if Kagome liked it, would she like him if he used it?

"Well?" Kagome asked, slightly impatient.

"W—Whatever, wench…" Inuyasha stammered, blushing madly. Might as well give it a shot.

Kagome gave him a hearty grin that made his heart skip a beat before swimming over to him.

Gently, she began to dab at the wounds across his chest. The three long gashes had already healed, but she knew that the flesh surrounding it was still tender, and continued to clean him with caution.

After the blood was wiped off, Kagome continued to bathe his other limbs, and scrubbed with much more vigor than she did with his wounds. She grabbed the hand he wasn't using to hold his ear and turned it over in her palm, scrubbing the crusted blood from under his nails before enticingly smoothing the cloth up the rest of his arm, his hand brushing against her bare breast.

Inuyasha gulped and reddened. He had just remembered that Kagome was half-naked before him, and now that he realized it, he had trouble keeping his eyes off of her.

When she was done, the water was tinted a light pink, but neither took notice—it would evaporate out soon. Kagome rinsed out the wash cloth, rung it, and dabbed at the dried blood on his face and the side of his head, holding his cheek with one hand as she used the other to wipe away the excess blood.

Inuyasha sighed and relaxed into her; her ministrations calming him.

Gently, Inuyasha felt her tug at his hand that was covering his ear, and complied, releasing his ear and letting his hand drop to his side.

Kagome gasped and caught his attention immediately.

"What?" he said, slightly alarmed and looking around.

"Why…why is there still so much blood…?"

Inuyasha stared down at her, and then to the wash cloth he had apparently dropped when releasing his ear: it was soaked with blood.

Once more, Inuyahsa reached up to his ear and gently felt his it; it was still bleeding.

Without a thought to her current state of undress, Kagome reached her arms up, cupped the back of Inuyasha's head with both hands, and pulled him down so that she could better examine his ear, frowning and not realizing that her hanyou was nestled comfortably between her breasts, giving him an amazing view.

Inuyasha gulped. He had never been so intimate with a woman before—but Kagome didn't even know what she was doing—she probably didn't even remember that she was half-naked.

Inuyasha stared at Kagome's breast, watching as her red peak bounced teasingly from her movement. Though the water and steam were warming her body, her nipples were still hard, but Inuyasha found that he wasn't complaining. In fact, down below, it seemed that there was another something hardening…

Kagome inspected his torn ear, pain for him welling up inside of her. It must really hurt.

Gently, Kagome fingered the flesh surround his ear, massaging his scalp; for some reason, he seemed very tense.

Blood was still leaking down the side of his head, but the flow had decreased since the last time she checked it, and she gave a triumphant smile—he was healing, and though rather slower than usual, it was still at a remarkable pace.

"Does it hurt, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked softly, staring at his ear.

"Fuck yeah, it hurts," Inuyasha replied hoarsely.

Eyes widening in surprise, Kagome instantly retraced her fingers, afraid that she was the cause of his pain, but before she could pull away to apologize, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, enclosing a nipple into his mouth and gently sucking.

Kagome gasped and instinctively arched into him. Inuyasha growled in approval and Kagome gave a soft moan; the vibrations echoing through her body and shaking her very core.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome moaned, her eyes closing.

He continued to lap at her nipple, taking his time to gently suck and nip and use his other hand to squeeze and mold her other breast into any shape he wanted.

Inuyasha slowly sat himself down on a rock and dragged Kagome into his lap. Immediately, her legs wrapped around his waist and she settled her pelvis just above his hips, her core cradling his erection through the water.

Inuyasha groaned and bucked into her and her eyes snapped open.

"Inuyasha—wait—" Kagome stammered. Inuyasha growled and bucked into her again; her eyes began to get hazy with pleasure. "We n-need to—your injuries—"

"Bitch…" Inuyasha groaned against her. "Forget them—"

Kagome didn't answer, but instead wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's head and pulled him to her breast, moaning when he sucked her nipple into his mouth once more.

Red-faced, Kagome leaned closer to him and bent her head, nipping at his uninjured ear.

The effect was immediate. Inuyasha bucked harshly under her and grabbed her hips to pull her closer to his length.

Both of their eyes closed from the pleasure. Kagome, wanting to feel it again, resorted to lapping at the tip of his right ear, mewling as he jerked his hips into hers again and again.

She unconsciously started to rock against him, her water-soaked panties creating a wondrous friction. She could feel the tip of his hardened length against her core, and pushed down on it, desperately wanting him inside her.

Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. He could feel his demon clawing at his resistance to let him out, but he refused. He would never let the beast out again—he was too rough with Kagome and could end up hurting her.

"I—Inuyasha…" Kagome whimpered, rocking harder and faster against him. "Inuyasha, please…"

Inuyasha growled in frustration. He could feel his resistance against his demon waning, and no matter how good it felt, he wouldn't risk the chance of letting his demon out.

Reluctantly, Inuyasha pushed Kagome from him, hating how she took her warmth with her.

Kagome's eyes were still scrunched shut, as if in pain, and she slowly opened them to stare at him in confusion.

"Inuyasha…?"

Inuyasha sighed in irritation. The throbbing length between his legs was screaming at him and he so desperately wanted to snatch his bitch back and fuck her until she became hoarse from screaming, but refused the urge with incredible resistance.

"Inuyasha…did I—did I do something wrong…?" Kagome started, hurt enveloping the eyes he loved so much.

"No, wench," Inuyasha answered. He tugged her to him again, but made sure that none of her heat came anywhere near his hardened crotch. She sat at his side, and they basked in their warmth comfortably. "My demon—he just wants to get out again…" Inuyasha continued. Kagome looked up at him.

"Well, why don't you let him?"

Inuyasha gaped down at her, disbelief etching itself into his eyes. Kagome giggled.

"Inuyasha, I told you—you're demon wasn't trying to rape me! He was trying to protect me—from Koga!"

"I'd ask a second opinion on that, but seeing that right now my demon would do anything to fuck you, I think his view might be non-too-reliable…"

Kagome giggled again and leaned on his chest.

Inuyasha stared down at her, his eyes softening as she sighed against him, and began to toy with her hair.

**"You bastard," **Inuyasha heard his demon snap. **"We were so close—why the hell did you stop?"**

Inuyasha snarled inwardly at his demon, suddenly angry.

_'I'm not going to risk you hurting Kagome!'_

**"What the hell are you talking about?" **his demon sneered. **"Why the hell would I hurt my mate?"**

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha snapped out of his argument and stared down at Kagome, who was looking at him with concern etched in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "Is your ear hurting you? I should've wrapped it sooner instead of just letting it bleed—I'm sorry—"

And before Inuyasha could protest, Kagome climbed out of the water and left for her bag, digging out the proper supplies used for healing.

"Kagome—" he started, but she cut him off.

"Just stay there and relax, Inuyasha. I'll be there in a minute…once I find that stupid anti-septic—oh, here it is!"

Kagome hastily pulled out the spray bottle and hurried back over to him. Inuyasha instantly averted his eyes, noticing, with much pleasure, the way her breasts would bounce up and down with her as she moved.

"Here we go…" Kagome said as she kneeled behind him. "Just rest your head on my lap and I'll take care of everything."

Inuyasha hastily heeded her command and laid his head on her legs and looked up at her. His eyes widened as he stared at her—he never saw her breasts from this angle before, but he liked it—especially when she was naked.

Though he was still rock hard down below, Inuyasha could feel even more blood rushing south, and began to pant because of it.

Unable to resist temptation, Inuyasha slowly reached up with his hand while Kagome was looking the other way and tweaked a pert nipple.

Kagome jumped and gasped. Inuyasha groaned when her scent spiked; he thought of how close he was right now to her womanhood.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome squealed.

He groaned again at the sound of his name on her lips, but before he could savor it, Kagome slapped him harshly on the chest and hurriedly wrapped his haori, which was lying discarded next to them, tightly around herself.

"Can you _please_ stop doing that?" Kagome hissed, blushing madly and rubbing her thighs together. Inuyasha grinned at her.

"I know you like it."

Kagome's blush deepened to scarlet.

"So _what_? I need to concentrate on wrapping your injuries!"

"You mean you can't concentrate when I do _this_?" Inuyasha slyly turned in her lap and massaged her breasts, grinning when Kagomes' eyes glazed over with pleasure. "How about _this_?" He slowly untied the knot of his sash, which she hastily looped around her body, and pressed his face into her chest, licking her sensitive skin. "_This, _maybe?" Inuyasha slowly pushed her down to her back, crawled out of the spring on top of her, and spread her legs with his hands so that he lay between them. He rocked into her sluggishly, making sure to press his hardened length into her core. Then, he moved down until his head was between her legs and he was staring at her cloth-covered core. He pressed a finger against her, groaning when she bucked into him. "Or maybe…" Inuyasha pressed his tongue to her clothed core, using the tip to rub against her slick panties before devouring her into his mouth, loving the way she tasted through the cloth.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelped, bucking her hips wildly into his mouth.

Inuyasha used his hands to press against her hips to hold her steady before moving down to nip at her inner thigh. Slowly, he trailed back up her body, pressing kisses here and there and using his tongue and hands to create a burning trail of friction.

He pulled back and looked at her, his cock twitching with pleasure at just the sight.

Her face was flushed, eyes scrunched closed. Her bottom lip was red and puffy from where she bit it to hold in her moans of pleasure. Her body was slightly arched; the haori had fallen open and framed her small body. One hand was on her stomach, the other on the ground next to her.

Inuyasha closed his eyes from the pleasure, savoring the picture and trying to imprint the image into his memory. He had never seen anything so erotic in his life.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome gasped. The feeling of his tongue on her was incredible.

"Bitch…" Inuyasha replied, his eyes still closed. He frowned slightly; the pain in his ear was getting worse by the second.

"That's enough—you're still bleeding!"

Inuyashas' eyes snapped open and he glared down at her.

"W —_What_?" he said, exasperated. What the hell brought this on?

"Gosh darn it, Inuyasha! I really need to wrap your injuries—stop distracting me!"

Inuyasha grinned and flexed his fingers.

"You mean you get distracted when I—"

He was cut off when Kagome punched him lightly in the arm.

"Hey!" he said indignantly, though smiling at her. She smiled back before glaring at him playfully, rewrapping the haori around her self, and set to wrapping his ear.

Inuyasha sighed and turned back around so that his back was facing her, leaning his head back so that she could wrap his ear easily.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, trying to quell the bleeding.

"Hmm?" Inuyasha answered, eyes closed again.

"Will you be okay?"

Inuyasha peeked through his slightly open eye at her.

"Of course, wench—why wouldn't I be?"

"I mean your ear—will it…grow back…?"

Inuyasha lay there, looking thoughtful.

"I don't know…" he said gently, knowing the she loved his ears and would be upset if one of them suddenly went missing.

"It should, right?" she said, her voice thick with anxiety. "I mean, Sesshoumaru grew his arm back, right? So you should be able to…"

"Maybe, wench," Inuyasha murmured soothingly. "Just forget about it for now…"

Kagome nodded and concentrated on wrapping his ear.

"It's done," she announced. Inuyasha wasn't all too happy when she pulled away from him and let his head fall to the ground, but it couldn't really be helped. His head felt heavy with the bandages.

Kagome noticed his slight struggle and smiled apologetically, tugging the haori off her body and letting it fall to the ground.

"I had to wrap at least half of your head to keep the bandages in place…" she said. "Sorry."

"Whatever, wench," Inuyasha snorted.

Kagome sighed and treaded back to her bag to pack away her first aid kit before slowly sinking into the spring to wash. She was covered in his blood and began shivering again.

"You still cold, bitch?" came Inuyasha's voice from the edge of the spring.

Kagomes' eyes narrowed at the insult.

"Don't you dare think about coming in, Inuyasha," she said venomously. "After all the time it took me to wrap you ear—and it would be a complete waste of bandages if they got all soaked, too."

"Fine then," Inuyasha scowled. "Be that way!"

To his surprise, Kagome giggled.

"I will," she said gaily, grabbing her wash rag and lathering it in the flower-scented soap before scrubbing it over her body. Inuyasha watched hungrily, not realizing that Kagome was watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"Inuyasha?"

He jumped madly in surprise and glared at her, willing the sudden up in his heart beat to calm.

"What?" he barked, slightly embarrassed at his moment of weakness.

Kagome paused, thinking for a second before turning sad eyes to him.

"What am I to you?"

Inuyasha stared at her for what felt like hours, one brow furrowing and the other shooting up to hide behind his bangs to give him a thoroughly irritated look.

"What're you talking about, wench? What the hell brought this on?"

Kagome blushed and averted her eyes in embarrassment.

"I mean—with what just happened in the last hour and a half…What does it mean?" she asked softly.

Inuyasha blushed too, thinking back to their intimate moments. Her eyes locked onto his again and he bore into them, keeping his eyes on hers.

"What do you _think_, bitch? It means that you're _mine_." Inuyasha spat viciously. Kagome looked slightly taken aback.

"I'm…_yours_?" she whispered.

"Well, _duh_, wench—what _else_ would it mean? Even though I haven't actually claimed you yet, my scent is drenched all over you—"

"What does _that_ mean?" Kagome asked, her eyes slightly wide. Inuyasha scoffed and snorted at the same time at her ignorance.

"It warns off other males that you belong to me."

Kagome forcefully pushed down a flare of indignant anger that suddenly swelled up inside her. Inuyasha didn't seem to notice.

"And _why_ do I suddenly belong to you?"

Inuyasha snarled at her. "Damn it, bitch—do I have to spell it out for you?" he sneered. "After what just happened between us, anyone with a decent nose can tell that you're mine and lay off!"

"And the same goes for you, too, right?" Kagome inquired, lifting a perfect eyebrow.

"What do you mean, wench?"

Kagome didn't answer immediately. Instead, she waded over to the edge of the spring at which he was situated and leaned her elbows on the ground, using her hands to prop her head up and stare at him.

"…I suppose it wouldn't, would it?" she said rather sadly, staring him in the eye.

Inuyasha stared back questioningly before realization dawned his features.

"Kikyo…" he said softly. Kagome nodded.

"If I'm yours, then aren't you mine? How are you going to tell her?"

Inuyasha turned away from her.

"I—I don't know," he said quietly, staring at the ground.

"But you're thinking about it?"

"Of course I am, wench," he answered immediately, snapping his head back to look her in the eye. He was surprised to find that she was smiling.

"That's good enough for me," was all she said before she leaned over and kissed him so passionately that he had temporarily gone dizzy from the sudden blood rush, and before he knew it, he was kissing her back, his arms wrapping around her near-naked form and pulling her from the spring into his lap to hold tightly.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he found that he didn't care. All he needed was his woman right here in his lap and he would be content for the rest of his life. Regretfully, he knew that her lungs needed air, and broke away, leaning his forehead against hers and panting harshly.

"The next time she comes by…" Inuyasha puffed, taking deep breaths of her scent, "I promise I'll tell her about us."

Kagome nuzzled his cheek affectionately.

"Take me with you…" she breathed, holding herself tightly to him. He stiffened and his arms tugged her body closer to him.

"No," he answered plainly. "I don't know how she'll react…The Kikyo I knew fifty years ago is different from the one now—I don't want to have to worry about your safety when I tell her…"

"I don't want you to go alone, Inuyasha," Kagome argued, pulling back to look him in the eye. "You go unstable whenever you're near her—"

"I don't care—"

"But I _do_, Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, burrowing herself into his body. "She uses your guilt against you—what if she—"

Kagome was silenced when Inuyasha pressed a gentle kiss to her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Kagome," Inuyasha said softly, "but I just _can't_…"

Kagome stared at him and his heart clenched painfully.

"I don't want her to take you away from me…" Kagome whispered quietly, silent tears trailing down her face.

"She won't," Inuyasha murmured comfortingly. "I promise I won't leave you alone…"

The dam broke and Kagome collapsed against him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she sobbed into his chest. Inuyasha held her all the while, draping his haori over her body to provide protection, modesty, and warmth, growling soothingly in the back of his throat.

She clutched him for a long while, her gasping sobs shaking her whole form, until finally, her tears seemed to run out and they were encased in complete darkness.

"I won't leave you, either," Kagome sighed, her eyes drooping; she was so tired from the days events that she felt she'd pass out right then and there. "I can't…"

Inuyasha chuckled, sniffing out her exhaustion.

"What do you mean, wench?" he said softly, slightly glad that she had stopped crying. "You can't leave me?"

Without thinking, Kagome pressed herself against him and whispered, "I love you too much…"

And Kagome fell asleep, leaving a wide-eyed and happy hanyou in the world of sleepless wonder.

oOo

"Hey, Kagome!"

Kagome turned to see her best friend, Sango, trot up to her, holding her favorite kitsune in her arms.

"Hey, Sango! Hi, Shippo!" Kagome greeted happily. "What's up?"

Sango grinned cheekily at her before turning to Shippo.

"Hey, Shippo, Kagome and I need to have some girl time—why don't you play with some of the village children in the meadow?"

"Okay—" Shippo said enthusiastically. "See you!"

He bounded off.

"So," Sango started, and Kagome instantly knew that she was in for it. "What happened last night?"

Kagome blushed.

"You're turning into Miroku," she said, though grinning. Sango looked thoughtful.

"Maybe—but don't change the subject—tell me everything! Why else would Inuyasha be so strange this morning?"

It was Kagome's turn to think. Sango was right—ever since Kagome woke up, which was in her sleeping bag instead of the arms of her favorite hanyou, Inuyasha had been acting strangely possessive and very happy about something.

His mood affected everyone who knew him, and most of them were wary that the hanyou's happiness meant certain death, but Kagome had a gut feeling that it was something else, though she hadn't bothered to inquire him about it.

"I have no idea, Sango…" Kagome said.

Sango gave her a skeptical look, but dismissed her comment.

"I mean," Sango rambled, bending over to sit on a dry patch of land that wasn't buried in snow, "he's barely left you alone for three minutes—" she made a show of looking around for him, "where is he now, anyway?"

"He just left for the bathroom…" Kagome murmured slowly, also bending to sit.

"Ah," Sango said, giving her a lopsided grin, "so he'll be back any second now, won't he?"

As if on cue, Inuyasha came strolling out of the forest, still tying the sash to his hakama.

Sango giggled and stood, dusting herself of invisible dirt.

"I'll be waiting for the details later, then," she said and she trotted away towards Kaede's hut.

"What did Sango want?" Inuyasha asked, plopping himself down next to her and wrapping an arm possessively around her waist.

"Just some girl talk," Kagome sighed, leaning into him. He stiffened slightly.

"About what?" he asked guardedly. She didn't tell Sango about their intimate moments last night, did she?

As if reading his mind, Kagome answered, "She wanted to know more about what happened last night, but I didn't say anything."

Inuyasha relaxed against her and he rested his head on top of hers.

"Good."

Kagome sighed and closed her eyes, thinking about what Sango said.

This morning, when Kagome had awoken, her hanyou was no where to be seen, but he came marching into the hut with more fire wood and some fish that he threw to Kaede to roast for breakfast.

Kagome had noticed that he only caught three small fish; hardly enough to feed all of them, but was the usual amount that he served them anyway. When Kagome decided to commented on it, Inuyasha stiffened and stared at her before abruptly standing from his spot next to her and sprinting out of the door.

He was barely gone five minutes when he emerged from the cold winter outside with four scaled carp and two salmon that he had fished from the river near by.

Kagome almost felt her eyes pop when he dropped his load in front of her and grunted, asking if this was enough.

His ears were down and his hands were fisted, looking as though her judgment determined his death.

When she told him that it was more than enough to feed them for at least a _week_, his mood sprang impossibly high and he couldn't stop grinning.

Kaede decided to preserve three of the carp and the two salmon for later feasts and set to cooking the largest carp, which was obviously pregnant due to its round belly.

Inuyasha sliced it open and tossed away the innards, but made sure to handle a particular organ with care.

"What's that?" Kagome asked, pointing to the bloody package in his hand.

"The fish ovaries," Inuyasha replied, without looking at her, handing them and the fish back to Kaede.

Kagome nodded, her eyes a bit wide. Fish ovaries happened to be a very delicious treat in her time; they were also a bit expensive. They signified luck for fertility, and Kagome had to wonder if Inuyasha already knew that.

After the fish had been cooked, the scent of roasting flesh awaking her other companions, Inuyasha had greedily snatched a large plateful of the choicest meat and the ovaries, careful to pick out all of the small bones that were hidden in the flesh, but instead of taking it for himself, he shoved the plate into Kagome's lap. Then, he returned to serving himself, though with much less care of picking out the bones.

Everyone stared in slight shock from Inuyasha, Kagome, and the ovaries, all of them knowing what it meant. Kagome's eyes were impossibly wide as she stared at the egg filled sac.

"I—Inuyasha?" she asked tentatively.

"What, wench?" Inuyasha had answered gruffly, taking a large bite of fish and munching obnoxiously on the bones.

"Why did you give me the ovaries?"

Inuyasha turned to her with narrowed eyes.

"Why do you _think_, wench?" was all he said before he returned to stuffing his mouth.

Even Miroku was speechless, but when he got his voice back, he wisely thought it be better to keep his mouth shut, but was grinning widely, as were Sango and Kaede. Kagome only blushed, but ate the ovaries carefully and gratefully. There wasn't a bone in sight.

When breakfast was over, Kagome decided to go for a stroll around the village and Inuyasha jumped at the offer when she asked if anyone would like to join her.

They left the hut together and strolled through the thick snow. Inuyasha threw his arm around her waist and tugged her close to his side when he noticed that she was shivering slightly, and snarled at any male that passed them, glaring at them with a look that promised a slow, painful death if they came anywhere closer to Kagome.

They had ended their walk a short distance away from the Goshinboku when Inuyasha had announced his need for the restroom and assured her that he'd be back within minutes.

He actually placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes when he told her, as if she had begged him not to go.

Kagome grinned at the near-memory and Inuyasha looked down at her, her grin causing him to smile slightly.

"What're you happy about now, wench?" he asked, rubbing her waist up and down.

Kagome giggled.

"Nothing—just hoping that lunch will be as good as breakfast."

Inuyasha blushed but grinned happily at her.

"So you liked it?" he asked cautiously, staring at her from the corner of his eye. Kagome sighed and snuggled into him.

"I _loved_ it."

She felt her hanyou stiffen slightly before he pulled himself up to sit straight and he puffed his chest out slightly in pride, his chin raised high and arm securely wrapped around her waist.

Kagome giggled and rubbed his leg before she decided to have a little fun with him.

Boldly, Kagome twisted in his one-armed embrace and crawled into his lap, straddling his hips as she gripped his forelocks and forced him to look up at her, his eyes wide in surprise, but dark with pleasure.

"So," Kagome started, releasing his hair to trace small circles across his clothed chest while giving him a sultry grin, "when do you want to find out if the fertility eggs worked?"

He gave a choked gasp and lifted his hands to grab her, but she already moved off of his lap and was sprinting towards Kaede's hut, her laughter ringing in his ears.

Inuyasha jumped up and chased after her, his demon roaring with outrage at being tricked by his mate yet gleeful that he was allowed to play with her.

Kagome had barely made it to Kaede's hut when he tackled her to the ground, rolling so that he took the brunt of the hit but instantly shifting them around so that he lay on top, grinning down at her.

Kagome yelped and struggled underneath him, trying to shove him off with her hands and hips, but he just plopped more of his weight onto her, effectively squashing her and preventing her from further movement.

Slightly red in the face, Kagome smiled brightly up at him and he returned it eagerly, but not even a second later, the smile had vanished from her face and she was glaring at something above him, her eyes hardened with severe dislike.

Inuyasha shifted off of her and looked up to where she was staring, and his heart froze in his chest and it suddenly became hard to breathe.

Kikyou's Soul Collectors were swirling above them, twisting repulsively around each other and Inuyasha knew that she was trying to summon him.

There was a shuffling of clothes behind him and Inuyasha swung around to find Kagome stomping the rest of the way to Kaede's hut, anger and depression rolling off of her in waves.

Inuyasha gulped, but quickly followed her into the hut, which was, thankfully, empty.

Kagome, who seemed to not like to be in an empty hut with him at the moment, pivoted on her heel to march back to the door, saw him, stopped, and glared.

"She's calling you…" she said softly, angrily. Inuyasha stared back at her determinedly.

"I know…"

"Why're you still here?"

Instead of answering, Inuyasha swept over to where she stood and brought her to his arms, kissing her enthusiastically and not letting her up for air until she was dizzy.

"I'll be back…" Inuyasha murmured, panting against her neck when he finally decided to break away for air. "I promised that I wouldn't leave you…"

Kagome melted against him and nodded.

"I know…"

Inuyasha held her for a minute, trying to enjoy the presence of her in his arms. Kagome shivered slightly against him.

"You should go…"

Inuyasha nodded. "I'll be back as soon as I can, wench," he said playfully, lightening the mood. Kagome smiled sadly up at him and leaned up to kiss him tenderly on his jaw.

"I'll be waiting…"

Then, Kagome walked with him to the hut entrance where several of the Soul Collector's were waiting for him and kissed him once more.

Inuyasha walked to the very edge of the forest before he turned back to look at her one last time, and Kagome could have sworn that she saw him mouth the words, "I love you," to her before he retreated into the darkness, the Soul Collector's swirling grotesquely around him as they floated back to their master.

oOo

She was waiting for him by Goshinboku, he noticed with slight annoyance. How come she always seemed so drawn to the one place that they betrayed each other?

Her back was to him; hand slightly rubbing the large crack in the tree where she had pinned him.

He knew that she knew that he was there, but wasn't acknowledging it. Inuyasha could feel his demon swell with anger—she had summoned him and he came; why was he wasting time waiting for her to notice that he was there when he could be snuggling with Kagome?

"Kikyo…" Inuyasha started stiffly.

Kikyo paused, her hand, which began stroking the ancient tree, stilling and she slowly turned to face him.

"You came…" she said sadly. "I thought you wouldn't…"

"Of course I came," Inuyasha said. "Your damn Soul Collectors wouldn't stop bothering me if I didn't."

His words came out as harshly as he had meant them to. He was quickly getting irritated at the fact that she was slow to react to him—he wanted to be with Kagome, damn it!

Kikyo jumped slightly at his tone.

"You seem disturbed…" Kikyo said smartly.

"What of it?" Inuyasha snapped coldly.

Kikyo only stared at him and he sighed in frustration.

"Why are you here, Kikyo?"

She continued to stare at him before she answered.

"I'm dying, Inuyasha—"

"You're already dead," Inuyasha broke her off, and the tiniest bit of remorse and guilt was reflected in his eyes.

Kikyo didn't reply. Instead, she pulled an arrow from its container from her back and gently fondled the tip.

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed at her, wondering if she was silently threatening him. His hand instantly strayed to Tetsusaiga. He promised Kagome he'd come back.

The movement didn't go unnoticed by the undead miko, and she stared at him questioningly.

"I must speak with you…" was all she said before she held the arrow, tip down, and jammed it into the ground. A powerful barrier erupted around them, starting from the arrows place in the ground and spreading in a wide circle, encasing them.

Not even a mile away, a young miko snapped her head up and stared at the edge of the forest where her beloved hanyou disappeared, concern etching itself deeply within her eyes.

Grabbing her quiver and making sure she had a generous supply of arrows strapped to her back, Kagome turned and marched toward the clearing and quickly dissolved into its steely darkness.

Inuyasha winced at the intensity of the barrier; it shocked his youkai into silence, as it was raging blindly because it wanted to hurry up and go back to Kagome.

Inuyasha growled angrily. He knew she let that purification energy touch him on purpose, but let it slide.

"What do you want?"

"To speak with you—"

"Damn it!" Inuyasha snarled, "I already know that!"

Kikyo stared at him sadly from where she knelt next to her arrow. Slowly, she stood up to face him and took careful, almost calculated steps towards him.

Inuyasha had to resist the urge to step back.

Kikyo finally reached him and laid a cold hand on his chest. She stared up into his eyes sadly, obviously waiting for him to ask why she was distressed.

He didn't. Instead, he stared determinedly back down at her before gently removing her hand from his chest, placed it back at her side, and released it.

"Inuyasha…?" she asked questioningly.

"What do you want to talk about?"

She stared at him.

"Please, Inuyasha. Sit…"

Inuyasha eyed her before kneeling and sat cross-legged. He made sure that Tetsusaiga was in view; one hand on the scabbard and one hand on the swords hilt.

Kikyo followed suit and knelt in front of him.

"What was the barrier for?" Inuyasha asked gruffly.

"To keep out unwanted intruders," Kikyo answered rather harshly.

Inuyasha knew that she was thinking about Kagome and growled.

"Hurry up, Kikyo" he snapped. "You're wasting my time—what do you want to talk about?"

She started slowly.

"It's been almost three moons," she began, "since the demise of Naraku."

Inuyasha drew himself up and smirked.

"Yeah, so?"

"Are you still searching for the jewel shards that he spread across Japan?"

"Nearly half done," Inuyasha stated proudly. "The only demons who managed to get one were nothing compared to Naraku."

Kikyo remained silent and Inuyasha waited, slightly impatient, for her to speak.

"Almost one year ago, I told you that your life was mine."

Inuyasha frowned. He didn't like where this was going.

"Your life is still mine," Kikyo continued. "You promised to accompany me to Hell…"

Inuyasha's whole frame drooped.

"About that…" he started guiltily, "Kikyo—I'm sorry, but—"

"You don't intend to keep your promise?" Kikyo said sharply, glaring at him.

"It's just—I can't…" Inuyasha said, averting his eyes.

There was a long pause. Kikyo stared at him almost disbelievingly.

"It's my reincarnation, is it not?"

Inuyasha snapped to attention and snarled at her.

"Her name's Kagome," he spat viciously. "Either get her name right or don't bother mentioning her at all, 'cause I won't stand for all that 'reincarnation' shit."

"She has come between us," Kikyo said darkly. "She has taken you away from me."

"I never belonged to you…"

"Your _life_ belongs to me."

"I made a mistake."

"You promised to go to Hell with me."

"That's my mistake, Kikyo," Inuyasha said softly. "I made you a promise that I knew I couldn't keep…"

"Either way, Inuyasha, you gave me your word—"

"I said _no_, Kikyo—I'm sorry, but I just—I _can't_!"

Kikyo's aura flared around her. Inuyasha's demons' hackles rose immediately in response.

"Why not?"

"I have a _life_ here now, Kikyo—that's not something I'm ready to give up."

Her eyes narrowed but her aura shrank slightly.

"Then I shall wait for you."

"Then you will wait for a lifetime, Kikyo. I'm not leaving," Inuyasha stated firmly, baring his teeth slightly.

"I am _dying_, Inuyasha—"

"You're _already_ dead, Kikyo," Inuyasha repeated. "Your time here has ended—it's time that you let go of your hatred and release the souls that you stole. They're willing to accompany you to Hell in my place."

"I'm not leaving without you."

"I've moved on, Kikyo..."

Kikyo jumped slightly in surprise and stared at something behind him. Inuyasha inclined his head to look, but there was nothing there.

"What is it?" he asked, gripping Tetsusaiga.

"Nothing—" she said grimly, though smirking, "it seems a small animal has overcome my barrier."

Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously when she turned forward to look at him. Slowly, she crawled on her hands and knees towards him until she was in his lap, her hands on his chest.

Inuyasha growled a loud warning, but she paid no heed.

"Perhaps…" she said softly, tugging lightly on his forelocks. Inuyasha was forcefully reminded of what Kagome did to him earlier that day, and repressed a groan. "Perhaps you are right—maybe it is time for me to move on, as well; but my hatred won't allow me to…"

"Soon, Kikyo, you won't have any choice."

"Then help me move on…" Kikyo murmured softly, staring up into his eyes. "Help my pass through the gates of Hell so I don't have to suffer with this hatred any longer…"

Inuyasha sighed.

"I don't know what I can do to help."

"Just kiss me," Kikyo said, leaning forward.

Inuyasha pulled back, a confused and repulsed look adorning his face.

"No," he said. "I can't."

"Please, Inuyasha," Kikyo begged. "At least give me one last reminder of the love we once shared; just one kiss…"

She pulled on his forelocks before fisting her hands on the back of his head and forcing him down to meet her lips.

Inuyasha yelped slightly in surprised, but it was soon muffled by their kiss.

Kikyo's eyes slowly drooped closed, but Inuyasha kept his wide open before gently placing his hands on her shoulders with the intent of carefully shoving her off of him.

His demon was raging in unsuppressed anger and wanted to tear Kikyo apart, but Inuyasha refused.

He pushed lightly on her shoulders, but, instead of backing off, she burrowed her cold, lifeless body into his and wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to deepen the kiss.

Inuyasha kept his mouth tightly closed but allowed her to have a few moments of bliss, his hands trailing from her shoulders to grip her waist loosely. Slowly, his eyes drooped irresistibly closed.

There was a small gasp from somewhere behind him and a rustling of leaves, as if someone was trying to run away as fast as possible.

Inuyasha broke the kiss immediately and looked behind him, his hand gripping his scabbard once again, just in time to see Kagome sprinting back into the forest, her tears trailing after her.

Inuyasha stood, his eyes wide and face pale.

"Kagome…" his whispered, mortified.

He whirled on Kikyo, who was still kneeling and smirking past him to where Kagome was standing. He snarled at her and could feel his claws and fangs lengthening, his eyes reddening and his stripes burning into his cheeks, but Tetsusaiga pulsed in his hand and refused to let him turn full demon.

"_You_…" Inuyasha snarled. "You _knew_ she was there, didn't you?"

Kikyo didn't seem to notice the change in his appearance or aura, but merely continued smirking.

"She will not interfere any longer, Inuyasha. I'm dying—"

Kikyo was cut off when Inuyasha grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to Goshinboku. Her feet were left dangling in mid air.

"There won't be any _us _for her to interfere with." Inuyasha hissed, his eyes turning a bit more scarlet. "I _know_ you dying. Good riddance."

And Inuyasha dropped her and turned to sprint after Kagome.

He was surprised at how quickly she could run; they were a mile away from the village and she was already in Kaede's hut in less than five minutes.

He paused just outside of the door way, listening to her sob. It seemed that the others had finally arrived from where ever they disappeared to during the day, for he could hear them trying to soothe her.

"Kagome…" he heard Sango say gently. "What's the matter?"

Inuyasha's heart clenched when her answer was a gasping sob.

"Where is Inuyasha, Lady Kagome? I thought he was with you…" Miroku said softly, taking his part in comforting his companion and rubbing her upper back.

Kagome, who was buried into Sango, shook her head violently and continued to sob.

"Did he do something to you?" Sango asked, anger flaring within her.

Kagome didn't answer and only cried harder.

Miroku paused and gave Shippo a meaningful look. Shippo nodded and they both treaded outside of the hut where they found Inuyasha standing just outside of the doorway. They were surprised to see his faint markings, but ignored it.

"Inuyasha," Miroku said softly so that Kagome couldn't hear him, "come with me."

Inuyasha's demon roared in outrage when the priest pushed Inuyasha back into the darkening edge of the forest.

Once he thought that they were far enough through the woods that they couldn't be over heard, Miroku turned and fixed Inuyasha with a demanding glare.

"What happened?"

Inuyasha snarled viciously at him.

"None of your fucking business, monk."

"She is as much my companion as she is yours, Inuyasha." Miroku spat angrily, his glare hardening. "What did you do to her?"

Inuyasha gripped Tetsusaiga harder to keep from transforming.

"I said it's none of you _fucking_—"

"You saw Kikyo, didn't you?"

They both snapped their heads down to stare at Shippo, who's eyes were glistening wetly but had a raging fire in them.

"That's why she's crying—she saw you two together…"

"Is that true?" Miroku asked quietly.

Inuyasha looked away. Miroku sighed.

"Inuyasha…" he started softly. "I thought you were through with her…"

"I am," Inuyasha answered immediately.

Miroku sensed a talk coming on and turned to Shippo.

"Shippo," he said, successfully gaining the young kit's attention. "Maybe you should go back to Lady Sango and help her and Kaede with Lady Kagome."

Shippo opened his mouth to protest, but Miroku cut him off.

"She needs all of the comfort she can get, right now, Shippo. Go."

Shippo gave one last seething glare to Inuyasha before he trotted off through the forest. They both watched him go.

The air suddenly turned cold. Miroku noticed that the sky was red and easily figured that the sun was beginning to set and decided to make this conversation fairly quick.

Before Miroku could even open his mouth, however, Inuyasha turned on him.

"I didn't mean for it to happen…"

Miroku closed his mouth and gave him a calculating look. One hand was clenched on his staff and the other was scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Inuyasha, what happened? Tell me everything—from the very beginning."

Inuyasha sighed and felt his markings fade.

"The beginning…" Inuyasha repeated softly. He averted his eyes and stared at some of the tree roots that protruded from the ground.

"…I couldn't remember anything after I transformed…but Kagome filled me in on everything. I—I could smell her fear—" Inuyasha choked slightly. "It terrified me. At first, I thought I had raped her; she was drenched in my scent, but she told me she I didn't do anything…"

"Of course you didn't," Miroku said gently. "We all know that you care about her too much to even _think _about harming her."

Inuyasha paused at this before continuing slowly.

"We—we shared some—" he paused and smiled slightly, "some intimate moments, and I told her—_promised_ her that the next time Kikyo came by—I'd tell her that I wanted to stay with Kagome…"

"And you did?"

Inuyasha nodded.

"But she didn't take it well, did she?" Miroku asked tentatively.

Inuyasha winced and nodded again.

"She came onto me and told me that the only way for her to move on to Hell without me was if she didn't harbor anymore hatred…and then, she kissed me."

"And Kagome saw you right then, didn't she?"

Inuyasha's frame drooped in depression.

"Did you kiss her back?"

Inuyasha shuddered slightly.

"Barely—but I didn't mean to…"

Inuyasha sat himself down on the ground and buried his head into his hands, clenching his hair tightly as though trying to pull it out.

Miroku closed his eyes and sighed sadly.

"Inuya—"

Before he could utter another syllable, a huge boomerang whizzed into the air and neatly sliced through the trees around them.

Not long after, a pissed taijiya came stomping after it.

"You filthy son-of-a-_bitch_!" Sango hissed, lifting one hand to retrieve the boomerang as it circled back around the forest. She caught it easily and glared at the hanyou, who didn't even look up to acknowledge her presence.

"Lady Sango," Miroku said calmly, "has Lady Kagome recovered?"

"She _cried_ herself to sleep," Sango scowled, her eyes narrowing when Inuyasha winced. "Shippo, Kirara and Kaede are there for when she wakes up."

Treading heavily over to him, Sango snagged Inuyasha's haori, and, with surprising strength, lifted him to his feet before delivering a harsh punch to his face. She pulled her hand back and delivered another before reaching behind her for Hiraikotsu and heaved it over her head and to the right, slamming it into Inuyasha's side.

His bones cracked under the pressure, but Inuyasha remained motionless throughout her beating.

"You _bastard_," Sango said, relentlessly smashing him closer to the ground with each thrust of the boomerang. "How _dare_ you hurt her?"

Miroku watched indifferently from the side, knowing inwardly that Inuyasha thought he deserved this. She took no pit on him despite the fact that his ear was torn off just recently.

"What the _hell_ did you do to my friend?" Sango snarled, slapping him so hard on the cheek that his head snapped to the right. "She was crying so hard that she couldn't even _speak_!"

At this point, Miroku intervened.

"Lady Kikyo," was all he said.

Sango froze in mid-slap and stared at the monk, her eyebrows disappearing under her bangs until they came back down to furrow over her eyes. She looked angrier than before.

"Kikyo?" she repeated, disbelief etching on her features. "_Kikyo?_"

"It is quite obvious that Lady Kagome saw them together while they were sharing an intimate moment—"

"Shut the _fuck_ up, monk," Inuyasha snarled from the ground. "It was _not_ an intimate moment—I told you she just came onto me—"

"And you didn't do anything about it, did you?" Sango growled accusingly. "You just let her—what?—_kiss _you?"

Inuyasha turned away guiltily.

Sango's hand, which was raised above her head in preparation for another strike, slowly lowered back to her side. It clenched over her katana. Her breathing was labored and came out harshly as her anger dissipated.

"You don't deserve her…" she whispered, tears glistening in her eyes.

Inuyasha choked slightly and the two stared at him, waiting. He didn't move from his spot on the ground; his head was down, jaws grit together, his bangs covering his eyes and hands clenched in his lap.

The sky was dark now. None of them had noticed just how close it was to night until the owls hooted and the forest was quiet.

It felt like forever when they were just staring at him before he finally spoke so softly that they almost couldn't hear him.

"…I know…"

oOo

Kagome jerked awake and snapped her head from left to right in a frenzy.

She paused and took a deep breath, trying to calm her raging nerves before she remembered what happened.

Betrayal replaced her love for him in her heart and she held back the tears that welled up in her eyes.

"After everything that happened last night…" she whispered, her hands clenched tightly to her chest.

Kagome looked around the room again, this time, more slowly.

Nobody was in the small hut except for her, Shippo, who was curled at her feet, and Kaede and Kirara; the last of whom was not sleeping soundly, but staring at her questioningly. She wondered where Sango and Miroku went, then where Inuyasha had run off to, before deciding that he was probably with Kikyo and couldn't care less.

_'That's not true…'_ a voice echoed in her head. Kagome ignored it.

Quietly and cautiously, Kagome stood from her place on the ground and headed to the entrance of the hut, intending to bathe herself.

She was stopped by a Kirara, who transformed and stood in front of the door.

"It's okay, Kirara," Kagome said gently, kneeling and patting the cats head, "I just need to go to the bathroom."

Kirara nodded, fixed her with a slightly suspicious glance, and trotted back to her sleeping place, transforming back to a kitten on the way.

She stood back up and, by the feeling of the fabric against her legs, it seemed that she had been changed out of her winter clothes and into a light yukata. Sure enough, when she looked down she was clothed in the white cloth with the sash tied tightly around her waist.

Not caring about how cold it was outside, Kagome stepped out of the hut and into the dark night.

Her body shivered but she ignored it and made her way to the river where she accidentally shattered the jewel.

She didn't know why she wanted to go there to bathe when she knew that there was a hot spring near by, but it felt like something was calling her.

Her bare feet were screaming at her from where they were buried in the snow, but she continued onward, through the forest until she reached the wide river.

She stared at it; up and down the river continued to flow until it disappeared over the large cliff she knew was there.

Slowly, Kagome sat down at the river bank and stuck her feet in. Amazingly, the freezing water felt warm against her cold skin.

Then, without warning, Kagome broke into tears and brought her legs up from the water and silently sobbed into them.

Wrapping her arms around her body, Kagome didn't notice a long, white snake-like figure glide toward her until it slithered under her body and she was lifted into the air. Another one of the creatures joined its companion and together, they locked her arms and feet into place.

"You _whore_…" a voice sneered angrily.

Kagome averted her eyes from the Soul Collectors and stared, quite calmly, into Kikyo's pale face.

"Yes?" she answered, knowing it would spite her.

Kikyo's eyes narrowed at her before she stepped closer.

"How _dare _you take the half-breed from me?" Kikyo hissed. Reacting to her anger, the Soul Collectors tightened their hold on Kagome, who smirked.

"Wasn't all that hard."

Kikyo snarled in outrage and briefly lost control of her powers; an electric jolt sprung through the air. It shocked Kagome slightly, with its intensity, and she knew that everyone within at least a hundred mile radius would be able to feel it.

Sure enough, only four miles away from the river, a hanyou jumped to his feet and a taijiya and monk sprang to attention, all facing the direction of the river.

Wordlessly, they sprinted to the rushing water, a transformed Kirara instantly joining them.

Kikyo quickly withdrew her power within herself and glared at Kagome.

"If I can't have him," she said softly, dangerously, "no one can…"

The Soul Collectors slowly pulled Kagome back until she was in the middle of the rushing water, waiting.

Kikyo withdrew an arrow from her back and aimed her quiver in front of her, straight at Kagome, who didn't even flinch.

"Fine," Kagome murmured. "I'd rather die with you than be with him any day."

Kikyo smirked and pulled the string back on her bow. She took careful aim.

"Good."

The arrow was released.

oOo

"Kagome!"

All Inuyasha could do was watch, horrified, as the arrow embedded itself deeply within the chest of his mate.

The Soul Collectors released their charge and, as if in slow motion, Kagome fell from the air, her head turning towards him in slight surprise before she disappeared into the freezing water.

"Kagome!"

"Lady Kagome!"

It seemed that his teammates finally caught up with him.

Miroku and Sango seemed too horrified at what was happening to react—just like him.

They watched, appalled, as Kagome emerged from the river, red water surrounding her like a halo.

She floated quickly down steam, making half-hearted attempts to swim back to shore.

It was only when she whispered something that made them realize that she was still alive.

"…Inu—Yasha…"

Inuyasha snapped out of his reverie. Now, not even Tetsusaiga could stop him from turning full demon.

Without discarding his clothes, Inuyasha dove after her, realizing, with a heart stopping jolt, that she was headed straight for the water fall.

Even though her vision was blurry, Kagome could still see some jagged rocks projecting from the water surface and, almost sarcastically, thanked God when the water pushed her straight into one.

Using all of the strength she had left, Kagome gripped the rock hard, lifted her stiff, frozen arm and yanked the arrow from her chest, crying out in pain as she did so.

She could feel her miko powers giving her slight energy boosts and she redirected them towards healing her injury.

Already, she could feel the hole in her chest beginning to patch itself closed.

"Kagome!"

Painfully, Kagome arched her head to the side to see Inuyasha swimming rapidly towards her.

His face was pale, his red eyes terrified and his hands cupped as he tried to quicken his pace.

"Hang on, Kagome—don't let go!"

There was something in his voice—something written on his demonic face that suddenly made her not want to die and she tried as hard as she could to cling to the rock.

But it was too much. The water was pounding into her wound; blood suddenly gushed from her mouth and she couldn't hold on any longer.

Her hands slipped away from the moss rock and she closed her eyes, waiting for her fall to death.

"_Kagome_!" she heard Inuyasha scream, but his voice was accompanied by another's.

"Hiraikotsu!"

Abruptly, Kagome felt the boomerang swish into the water just behind her and embed itself deeply into the rock underneath.

Her back roughly hit the side of the bone, the water harshly shoving her against it, but Kagome sighed in relief. She was saved.

Then, warm hands wrapped around her waist and Kagome focused her eyes on the red cloth that was in front of her.

But there was something behind Inuyasha that averted her attention.

Two sharp, energy charged arrows were zooming towards them, and Inuyasha didn't notice until it was too late.

One arrow caught on the long sleeve of his haori and Inuyasha's right arm was shoved forward as the arrow implanted itself within Sango's Hiraikotsu, dangerously close to Kagome's head.

With one arm still wrapped around Kagome, Inuyasha tugged as hard as he could, trying to free himself, but the arrow wouldn't budge.

The second arrow whizzed underwater, creating a large trench that spread violently around it until it hit its target; Inuyasha's lower back.

He roared in pain and outrage, temporarily releasing his hold on Kagome to remove the arrow, but the second his hand left her cold body, it was too late.

Soul Collectors whirled around and between them, quickly lifting Kagome's limp form from the chilling water and into the biting cold, just out of Inuyasha's reach.

Kirara soared into the air toward Kagome, ripping apart any Soul Collectors that got in her way, but she was shot down by a third arrow that implanted in her back leg and was forced to retreat back to the bank.

"Kirara!" Sango cried.

Miroku and Sango watched from the river bank, terrified. It seemed like an excellent plan to use the Hiraikotsu to stall Kagome's fall to death, but it only landed them in more trouble because now Inuyasha couldn't break free from the arrow.

At seeing his friend being hauled into the air, Miroku acted so quickly it was almost instinctive.

Pulling out purification sutras from his inner robe, he threw them as quickly as he could, one by one, at the Soul Collectors.

Inuyasha watched from below, shocked, when the Soul Collectors dissolved from each sutra that touched it.

There were too many however, and all anyone could do was watch as the Soul Collectors slowly drifted towards the waterfall and held Kagome over the edge.

"It seems that you have forgotten about me, Inuyasha," said a cool voice from the river bank.

Inuyasha turned to look at Kikyo, a stricken look in his red eyes. He hadn't even registered the fact Kikyo was here, despite her Soul Collectors, until she had spoken.

"Release her," Inuyasha snarled viciously, trying to tug his arm free.

Kikyo smirked.

"If you wish…"

Inuyasha snapped his head back just in time to see one Soul Collector slither back towards Kikyo—Kagome's form drooped as her weight became a bit too much for the remaining two Soul Collectors.

"No!" Inuyasha shouted, his red eyes wide.

From shore, Inuyasha heard Kikyo chuckle.

"Don't worry, Inuyasha," she sneered. "This is what she wants—she even said so before you arrived…"

Inuyasha's ears twitched towards her but his eyes remained on Kagome, who was trying not to lose herself to consciousness.

"You jest, Kikyo," Miroku snapped, purposefully dropping the 'Lady.'

"You think so, monk?" Kikyo said softly. "Just before you arrived, when I told her I was going to kill her in place of Inuyasha, she told me she'd rather die than stay with the half-breed…"

Inuyasha's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Kagome, who was now fighting with the pain.

Slowly, one more Collector slithered away back to its master and Kagome was left dangling in the air only by one Soul Collector.

"No—Don't!" Inuyasha yelled, tugging ferociously at his fire-rat.

"You said you had a life here, Inuyasha…" Kikyo said coldly. "In exchange for it, I will take hers…"

The last Soul Collector slid from under Kagome and Inuyasha could only watch as she fell from sight and into the depths of oblivion.

_"Kagome!"_

Five hundred years in the future, Manami Higurashi collapsed to the ground, the water from the dishes she was washing splashing violently as the terrible feeling of despair washed over her and she sobbed uncontrollably into her hands.

* * *

Psh! Wow, that is one LONG chapter! Well, to tell you guys the truth, I only wanted this to be a one-shot. I know, crazy. But the things in this chapter just seemed to drag on and on, so I decided to end it where I did and turn this into a two-shot. However, considering the revisions I'm making on my other stories, I will not expect the second chapter to be up for a while. I have already started on it, but seeing as this chapter is 62 pages long, and I like to remain consistent in the length of my chapters (at least, I try to), the second chapter isn't even 1/5 of the way done yet.

I promise that it will be done…sometime in the future. I can't guarantee if it will be soon, but my writers block vanished and I have been working on a lot of revisions recently. I'll see if I can squeeze this in, which I most likely will because its summer break.

Wish me luck! Review please, and thanks for reading!

~Miyopiyo


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